This week we'll look at two Wes Montgomery licks from his solo on "Freddie Freeloader" off Portrait of Wes.

The first lick is over the first three bars of the blues form, over a Bb7 chord. The lick opens with a signature Wes Montgomery arpeggio pattern. Pay close attention to how this is played in both hands. When playing single note lines, Wes did not use his pinky very often. Instead he played arpeggios that moved up diagonally across the neck. The pattern also allows for more downstrokes with his thumb--another big part of his recognizable tone.